Self-storage facilities are well known in the art and generally comprise a plurality of individual storage units disposed within a secured perimeter for the purpose of safeguarding/storing articles. In a typical arrangement, each storage unit includes a storage compartment disposed within a garage or shed-like structure for receiving goods/articles therewithin, a door member for accessing the interior of the storage compartment, and a locking mechanism for fastening the door member in a closed position to securely maintain the contents of the storage compartment when unattended. As is required, the customer will provide, or the facility will sell or give each customer their own lock with associated key for securing the locking mechanism.
The secured perimeter typically includes a fence or barrier surrounding the storage facility having at least one access point such as an automated gate for exiting and entering, wherein gate access is restricted to only those individuals having proper clearance or authorization to enter the storage facility so as to deter theft and/or vandalism. The storage units are usually offered for rent for various periods of time such that a person in need of short or long term storage may simply lease one or more storage units until such time that they are able to transfer or otherwise dispose of the stored goods.
Self storage facilities are old in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,448 entitled “Security System for Roll Down Doors” which issued on Apr. 11, 2000 to Lanigan et al. shows a roll down door solenoid lock suitable for use in such facilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,333 entitled “Locking Assembly” which issued on Feb. 24, 1998 to Turvey discloses a lock for a rolling gate using a solenoid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,544 entitled “Wireless Access System” which issued on Aug. 10, 1999 to Gonzales et al. provides wireless access through multiple doors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,038 entitled “Remote Controlled Mechanical Chain Barrier” which issued on Feb. 16, 1999 to Gompertz et al. shows a remote controlled gate with a solenoid lock.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,660 entitled “Automated Storage System” which issued on Aug. 31, 1999 to McCarty et al. shows a self storage facility having kiosks available for users to undertake self storage transactions without the need for an attendant.
While the self-storage facilities of the prior art do accomplish the goal of providing temporary storage space to people in need thereof, there are several significant disadvantages which precipitate the need for the present invention.
First, if a customer falls behind in payments, that customer often is able to access their individual storage until an attendant or accounting software changes the access rights to the gate for that particular customer. However, even after the access code is deleted, the customer can often still obtain access to the facility via a friend or simply “tailgating” a legitimate user with a valid code through the gate. Once inside, the delinquent customer will have access to the individual unit, particularly if he or she provided their own lock and the facility attendant has not put an additional lock on the unit manually, in the parlance of the profession, adding an overlock to the individual unit.
Thus, there is a need in the self storage industry for a system which allows a remote facility to allow or disallow access to a particular storage unit without the need for an on site attendant as well as additional protection for attended facilities. Such an automatic overlock system would facilitate payments, and may be combined with a kiosk which allows a tenant to lease or pay rent at any time thereby reducing the number of man hours needed for staffing and allowing managerial personnel to focus on increasing business rather than servicing existing or new clients.
The present invention meets these needs.